Have SanDisk SD Problems?

[SanDisk]

I would like to respond to recent issues posted in regard to SanDisk SD cards in Dell Axim PDAs.

First of all, let me introduce myself. I am an employee with SanDisk. You should be aware that I am not involved with our sales department or any other branch of the company which directly benefits from some sort of commission. In other words, I am not trying to convince anyone to buy our products. I will not elaborate further on which department I am in. Most importantly, this post is made on a personal basis. I am in NO WAY offering an official response from the company or representing SanDisk on this matter in any way.

Now, many of you have come across problems using SanDisk brand Secure Digital cards in your Dell Axim. Some have had problems with data on the card being corrupted, deleted or lost in some way. Many of you have mentioned that other brand cards seem to work fine.

SanDisk has recognized an abnormal amount of customers having problems with SD cards in Dell Axims. We are currently researching this to discover the problem, which is most likely related to some sort of compatibility issue. I realize this seems like a standard response, but I am being as forthcoming and honest as possible. A solution does not drop out of the sky over-night. It is a sporadic issue and difficult to track down. Many of our cards work fine with some Axim PDAs. Some do not. They all come from the same product line and we are trying to determine what combination of circumstances cause problems. We are doing our best to please our customers. You are not being left abandoned.

Keep in mind, many of you are blaming SanDisk. Claiming that our products "suck" or lack quality. You should realize, that while it seems that only SanDisk has a problem with your Axim, only the Axim has a problem with our cards. Other PDA units work very well. All of the currently known issues seen with PDA units are resolved by a firmware update by the PDA manufacturer. No one can say that SanDisk or Dell is the problem. We do not know yet. Until the exact cause of the problem is tracked down, please refrain from pointing fingers and making accusations.

The fact is, we have less than a 1% return rate on our products. We also receive many thank you letters and e-mail from our customers all the time where our cards have survived through some pretty harsh situations. Most recently, one customer told us about how they had accidentally put a card through their washing machine and it still worked. Another customer sent in a letter telling us about a fire which had completely destroyed the kitchen, with a SanDisk card sitting on his counter. Firefighters had shoveled debris into a pile in the backyard. Several days later, after pouring rain, the customer found the card, cleaned it off and let it dry. The card still worked and all the data was fine. I have dozens of similar stories. Our cards can even sustain a shock of 2000G and we have a 5 year warranty. That is a pretty good beating. You don't get this with products of poor quality.

One last fact that I should mention. The Secure Digital technology was co-developed by Matsushita (Panasonic), Toshiba and... yes, SanDisk. In light of that fact, we should never have issues with our SD cards because the products you use them in should be following the specifications that we created.

To conclude, the problem is being looked into. Either Dell or we at SanDisk will have a solution as soon as possible. We are doing our best to help resolve our customer's issues. Hopefuly this information is helpful.

[mitchmann]

Well, hey, I can appreciate a candid response, and hope you don't get in any hot water for making the statement. I think it is fair.

I am a victim to data corruption, and am still trying to sort it out after a second card, a ROM update and now a hardware swap (whole unit).

I have been through help desks at both SanDisk and Dell, both of which were helpful but not enough to resolve the issue.

I am willing to help in any way I can so that I have a reliable way to store all the data that is clogging my built-in memory! Thanks again.

[grimm]

I have used other Scandisk cards no problem. I purchased the one I have at Costco. I think I'll return it and try another one.

Thanks for the information thought I was "losing" my mind.

[Computer Ninja]

SanDisk,

I'd like to thank you for your response as well. It's very uncommon for me to see a representative from a vendor, especially one as large as SanDisk, writing messages on forums. The readers of Aximusers.com will find this "letter" very interesting. Thanks again!

[tlkwhacker]

I have encountered the crashing of the SanDisk SD 128Mb on the Dell twice. The last one just a few days ago. On both occassions, I was trying to over store data and the disk just conked off and I lost valuable information. So the trick is to just be careful while trying to store data into the SanDisk SD Card, don't overload it and it would not crash.

[darkchild]

Wow...I was just about to but the 128mb Sandisk SD this coming Saturday but with the all issue..... I will wait for a couple of weeks more until the compony or Dell resolve the issue or I wolud buy anoher type of Sd card.

[dhipwood]

I purchased a 1GB Sandisk as soon as they became available. Zero issues. :cat:

[happycheesecake]

Hi there

I've been doing a bit (!) of testing on SD cards (see the Dell forum for some details) and today I've done a heavy test involving thousands of small jpeg files on a Sandisk 128mb SD card (on the back is labelled AR0304LQ Taiwan) with a Ipaq 3970 (PXA250 CPU), Toshiba 740e (PXA250 CPU) and my own Dell Axim (PXA255 CPU). The test involved copying a directory with sub-directories containing the files using file explorer from/to the SD card.

Guess what? The only problems were with the Axim. "dot" directories and corrupted files. I did the test 4 times, clearing and reformating the SD card after each test. Same result every time.

Now I've also got a Lexar 256mb SD card (back has AR0304LR China) and the same problems occur on that card.

This problem didn't occur with my 256mb SimpleTech SD card (BP3DD003944 Made in Japan).

Please make your own minds up - I think Sandisk, Lexar (and others) are just rebadging cheaper cards.

[Zuzu]

I appreciate the response... I too am a victim of data corruption on my Sandisk 256mb SD card...

However,

Regardless if Sandisk is working on the problem, i'm stuck with a worthless piece of plastic in my axim. I'm sorry if i'm not compationate to Sandisk's plight. The consumer is always the ones who get screwed in these situations. Do I care if it's an axim issue or a Sandisk issue? No.. I shouldn't care.. this stuff should work... We pay good, hard-earned money for too many things that don't work nowadays.

I know that it's virtually impossible to test every device, but i don't, and nor should i care. Is there an official notice on Sandisk's site?

It's possible i could buy a kingmax or something else in the future that has problems too.... If you bought a Ford, who's engine blew up... chances are you would never buy a ford again....

Sorry... good luck to your company, but I won't be buying a Sandisk card again. Other companies obviously have better testing and QA....

[happycheesecake]

Mr Sandisk..

Try the following links:

Clicky 1

Clicky 2

BTW - I'm prepared to go head to head with any manufacturer who brings out sub-standard goods. That goes for PDA and/or SD card companies. I'm a Brit who bytes back.